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Enzyme Digests Amyloid-Beta Associated with Alzheimer’s Disease

January 29, 2018

An enzyme found in brain cells can break apart the precursors to plaques that accumulate in the organ and cause toxicity in Alzheimer’s disease, according to a new study led by Weill Cornell Medicine scientists.

The study, published Jan. 29 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, illuminates where the enzyme, tripeptidyl peptidase 1 (TPP1), cuts these plaque precursors—formed by peptide fragments...

Dr. Ghazaleh Ashrafi, a postdoctoral associate in biochemistry at Weill Cornell Medicine, has won a 2017 Tri-Institutional Breakout Award for Junior Investigators.

The awards, which honor outstanding postdoctoral investigators at Weill Cornell Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering and The Rockefeller University, are given annually to up to six promising postdoctoral trainees based on their research accomplishments, the impact...

Researchers Discover New Mechanism of Synapse Control

March 10, 2017

A tiny tubular structure directly controls synapses, the junctions through which communication signals flow between nerve cells, according to a paper published Feb. 8 in Neuron. The research could eventually help scientists better understand and treat a variety of neurological diseases, including spastic paraplegia, which leads to stiffness, weakness and spasms in the legs, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), the...

New research provides insights into why the brain is so reliant on sugar to function.

In a study published Jan. 19 in Neuron, a research team led by Weill Cornell Medicine investigators discovered that brain cells recruit a specific sugar, glucose, to fuel the transmission of electrical signals that enable people to think, breathe and walk. The findings suggest that the brain uses the same process to...

On the Fast Track

November 20, 2015

By Heather Salerno

Portraits by John Abbott

It's a rare, heartbreaking disease. Niemann-Pick Type C — which is often called "childhood Alzheimer's" because its adolescent victims deteriorate mentally as well as physically — lacks a cure or even a treatment. Patients most severely affected by the rare, hereditary, neurodegenerative disorder generally don't live beyond age 20. "We're also starting...

During his six years studying biochemistry in the graduate school, he was always more interested in looking at how smaller pieces added up to a big picture. Sometimes that meant shifting focus from a protein's specific involvement in Parkinson's...

Researchers Reveal Crucial Immune Fighter Role of the STING Protein

NEW YORK (June 14, 2012) — Researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College have unlocked the structure of a key protein that, when sensing certain viruses and bacteria, triggers the body's immediate immune response.

In the journal Molecular Cell, scientists describe the double wing-like crystal structure of this key...

Dr. Timothy Ryan Receives McKnight Technology Award in Neuroscience

August 9, 2010

Luminescent Firefly Protein Used to Study How the Brain Is Fueled

NEW YORK (Aug. 9, 2010) — Dr. Timothy Ryan has been selected as one of four scientists to receive the prestigious 2010 McKnight Technological Innovations in Neuroscience Award. The award has been given annually since 1999 to advance the range of technologies available for studying the brain and the diseases that affect it.

The Rab10 Protein Helps Regulate the Uptake of Glucose Into Cells, According to Weill Cornell Medical College Study

NEW YORK (April 3, 2007) — Scientists at Weill Cornell Medical College have identified a protein called Rab10 as an important partner in the insulin-mediated uptake of glucose by cells, opening the way to potential new drug targets for the prevention and treatment of type 2 diabetes.